


Too Darn Cold

by CeliaEquus



Category: Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky is Crushing Harder than a 12-year-old Girl, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-18 02:31:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11864793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeliaEquus/pseuds/CeliaEquus
Summary: Bucky didn't mean to fall for Daredevil, but how can you not love a guy who protects you from the cold?





	Too Darn Cold

Daredevil fascinated Bucky.

Not only was the guy a talented fighter, but the whole secret-identity thing made him the kind of enigma Bucky wanted to solve. If Natasha hadn’t worked out Daredevil’s identity by now, then the guy was clearly _good_. Insanely good.

Spending time with Daredevil during fights was pretty much impossible, and he never came to movie nights or parties at the Avengers Tower. Once Bucky worked out that the guy patrolled Hell’s Kitchen nearly every night, though, he went out of his way to visit whenever he could and try to get to know their ally.

Repeated exposure had two major effects.

First of all, Bucky found the guy as inscrutable as ever. They fought bad guys, and Daredevil not only stuck to his code of not killing, but made sure Bucky stuck to it on ‘his turf’ as well. They parkoured all over the place, and Daredevil pointed out some of the better eating places, or where houses used to be when he was a kid. So he grew up in Hell’s Kitchen. The Avengers had already figured that out.

The second major effect, to Bucky’s horror, was that he developed a crush on Daredevil. A huge, embarrassing, teenage crush. He blushed every time Daredevil offered him a hand up. Judging by Daredevil’s smirk, he saw it, even in the dim light of alleyways. Bucky was pretty sure his heart sped up every damn time he saw that smile. Any smile from his favourite vigilante. His palms sweated and he grew tongue-tied. Kind of awkward whenever Daredevil helped them out.

But it wasn’t distraction which got him this time.

 

Somehow Frost Giants invaded New York. Thor never thought to mention that Frost Giants could somehow freeze stuff with their mere presence. Touching buildings, cars, the road…

“Bucky?” Steve barked. “Damn it, who’s closest to Bucky?”

Bucky wasn’t aware that he was curled into a tight ball, hyperventilating, until he saw the red suit appear in his line of sight. He felt the brick wall at his back, but he couldn’t raise his eyes, not even when Daredevil crouched in front of him and touched Bucky’s arm. The metal one.

“This must be hurting you, huh?” Daredevil said. “It’s taken on the cold, and since it’s attached to your flesh… Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here.”

“Bucky doesn’t like the cold,” Steve said over the comms. “Because of the cryo—”

“No, I’m sure it’s the skin around his frozen nerves,” Daredevil said, helping Bucky to stand. It didn’t take a genius to know that his words were just to help Bucky save face. What use was he if he had a panic attack every time he got cold? Winter was gonna be hell for the Winter Soldier.

He didn’t really notice much. Daredevil’s arm was around his upper back, the one warm point in a freezing world. Bucky clung to him as they made their way through Hell’s Kitchen to an office building. Daredevil helped him climb the building and slip through a window.

“W-where are we?” Bucky asked. He didn’t want to be caught trespassing. He was still on thin ice with the American government for all the war crimes he’d committed as the Winter Soldier.

“Law offices of Nelson and Murdock,” Daredevil said gruffly, and he gently shoved Bucky into a chair. “I’ll get you some coffee.”

“Uh…” Daredevil disappeared from the office to another room, and Bucky looked around, cataloguing potential weapons, security devices, and escape routes. It was early morning on the weekend, but what kind of hours did lawyers work? (Twenty-four-seven, in the case of Tony Stark’s legal team.)

Daredevil soon returned with a cup of terrible coffee. Sure, these weren’t fancy offices. But in an area like Hell’s Kitchen, rife with crime, wouldn’t they get a lot of work? Maybe the did a lot of pro bono cases?

“Never seen a thing like that before,” Bucky said conversationally, trying to swallow back the hysteria of breaking and entering with the neighbourhood crime-fighter.

“Oh, that? It’s a Braille printer.”

“Braille? You mean, like for blind people?”

Daredevil cracked a smile, and Bucky’s heart fluttered again.

“Murdock is blind,” he said. “Probably got a cane stashed around here.”

“Great,” Bucky muttered, blowing on the hot liquid. “We’ve broken into a _blind_ guy’s office. If I thought we’d be in trouble before…” He shook his head, and choked down half the scorching liquid in an effort to fight off the cold. It only worked to set him coughing. Daredevil rubbed his back soothingly.

“We won’t get in trouble,” he said. “I’m… allied with them. Kind of. They’d be sympathetic to you. I know that Nelson’s been vocal about the poor treatment you’ve received. All the abuse…” His hand tightened on Bucky’s shoulder. “It’s not right. If… if you ever need legal representation and you don’t trust Stark’s team… I’m sure they’d represent you.”

“This ain’t exactly the first impression I’d wanna give,” Bucky said. He drank the rest of the coffee slowly. He started to feel warmer, but that faded when Daredevil took the mug back. Slowly, Bucky began to tremble uncontrollably, and his breathing sped up. Daredevil ran back to him and helped him out of the chair.

“Let’s sit here,” he said, pulling Bucky down to sit with their backs to the wall. He wrapped both his arms around Bucky and murmured soothing words into his ears. He nuzzled Bucky’s hair, his warm breath melting the wall of ice trying to block out the rest of the world. Bucky burrowed into that heat, needing as much as he could get.

Minutes or hours or even days passed. Daredevil sang a few times, songs which sounded like lullabies. Bucky wasn’t sure anymore. He only knew that he wanted to stay here forever, in Daredevil’s arms on the floor of a stranger’s office. He felt safe, protected. Almost loved.

Actually loved?

“I think the fighting’s over,” Daredevil eventually said. “Do you want to head back to Avengers Tower? You must be starving.”

“No,” Bucky said, clutching his armour. “Not going. Not without you. I love you. I wanna stay with you.”

Daredevil stiffened, and his hands stilled.

“You love me?” he asked softly.

“I…” Bucky cursed himself. “I don’t… I don’t even know your name. But I want you so damn much, and I hate bein’ away from you, and I wanna know everything about you. I don’t want `em to take you away from me, ever. I’d fight anyone I had to if I got to parkour around Hell’s Kitchen with you every night, an’ fix your injuries, an’ kiss you, an’—”

“I get the picture,” Daredevil whispered. “But, Bucky… I can’t.”

“If… if this is to protect me from… your enemies, or whatever—”

“Partly. But I can’t risk _anyone_ knowing who I am. I have other friends.”

“So this isn’t a ‘no’?” Daredevil opened his mouth. “I mean, it’s not a ‘no, I don’t have feelings for you’, it’s a ‘no, I wish I could but I can’t’?”

“I like you, too much,” Daredevil said. “And I know you’re attracted to me.”

“Figured you did.”

“I’m flattered. And terrified. I don’t want to lose you just like I’ve lost so many people I care about.”

“You’d never lose me,” Bucky said fiercely.

“Can we… maybe wait? A while? I want you to be a free man, and I want my friends to have protection. My identity has to remain secret—”

“Yeah, well, none of us were buyin’ that ‘Just call me Mike’ stuff.”

Daredevil chuckled, and the vibration reverberated through Bucky’s real arm.

“But I’ll tell you my first name, for now,” he said. “Because… I want you to know that I care. You’ll probably figure it out soon enough. But you need to know that someone trusts you more than they trust the rest of the Avengers.”

“I won’t tell anyone, I swear,” Bucky said. He didn’t want to leave the warmth of Daredevil’s embrace, but he sat up to look him in the eyes. He needed to show that he meant business. “What’s your name?”

Daredevil held out his hand, and Bucky clasped it.

“I’m Matt,” he said.

“Can I get a kiss before we return to real life, Matt?”

“Yes.”

 

The American government wouldn’t give him a break, especially since Bucky went missing during the fight against the Frost Giants. Stark was constantly trying to force him into meetings with his cold, business-like team of overpaid lawyers. Bucky needed somewhere safe, people who were maybe less cold and more caring.

He bummed a ride from Steve to Hell’s Kitchen. Steve waited with the bike, trying to look inconspicuous (and probably failing miserably). Bucky wanted to see the lawyers on his own first, and needed a speedy getaway if they turned out to be… not what he was looking for.

A pretty blonde woman looked up from her computer and brightened.

“Hey!” she said. “I’m Karen. How can I help you, sir?”

“Uh, I’m lookin’ for legal representation?” he said. “I’m James Barnes.”

Her eyes widened, but she didn’t scream or anything. That was probably a good start. Bucky knew she was armed, but her fingers weren’t reaching for her gun. Also a good sign.

“Oh my God, you need our help?” a man said. Bucky looked to the man on his right, beaming at him. “Hey, I’ve already got at least a hundred ideas about how we can tackle this. Oh, I’m sorry.” He held out his hand. Bucky assessed him to be harmless. “Foggy Nelson.”

“I’ve heard you’re, uh, sympathetic? To my, I dunno, cause?” Bucky said. Foggy shook his hand vigorously.

“You bet, pal,” he said. “Let me just get… oh, here he is.” He looked over Bucky’s shoulder. “New client!”

“If you haven’t scared him off,” Karen muttered. Bucky liked her.

“I’m pretty sure Sergeant Bucky Barnes does _not_ scare easily,” Foggy said. “You’ll let us take your case, right? Hey, how’d you hear about us?”

“From, uh… Daredevil?” Bucky said. Foggy rolled his eyes.

“Of course,” he said. “Yeah, I think we’ll be taking your case. Right, Matt?”

Bucky swivelled on his heel, and stared at Matt Murdock, who stood behind him, smiling pleasantly, a cane in one hand. Looking closely enough (and Bucky had looked closely plenty of times), he could see a physical resemblance. But Daredevil was _blind_?

…Okay, that explained how he could fight in pitch black while the rest of them scrambled for lights. Even Natasha hadn’t picked that up.

“P-pleased to meet you,” Bucky said, offering his hand. Matt shook it warmly. The same hand which had helped him up so many times.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” Matt said softly, and he gave Bucky a small smile.

His heart fluttered again.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I’m thinking of doing a bunch of these based on the similar theme of Daredevil getting Bucky out of battle when he has a panic attack thanks to the cold, although with different results based on the situation. E.g., soulmate AU, Omegaverse AU, that kind of thing. What do you reckon?
> 
> Please review!
> 
> Oh, and my next book is now available online! It’s called ‘When Life Is A Fairytale’, and it’s available on Amazon. Again, under my real name Grace Howell.


End file.
